1 / 17

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare . Biography. Born on April 23, 1564 (The first record of his life is his Baptism on April 26, 1564, meaning he was probably born 3 days before). Stratford-on-Avon, England was his hometown where he attended the King’s New Grammar School.

storm
Download Presentation

William Shakespeare

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. William Shakespeare

  2. Biography • Born on April 23, 1564 (The first record of his life is his Baptism on April 26, 1564, meaning he was probably born 3 days before). • Stratford-on-Avon, England was his hometown where he attended the King’s New Grammar School. • Shakespeare is known as the Bard (poet) of Avon.

  3. Biography • When William was 18 he married Anne Hathaway (not the actress!) who was 8 years his senior. • William and Anne’s first child was a girl named Susannah, who was Baptized in 1583. • In 1585 the couple had twins, Hamnet and Judith. • In 1596, Hamnet died of the Bubonic Plague which was spreading throughout Europe.

  4. Biography • Shakespeare wrote 37 plays: • Comedies • Tragedies • Histories • Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy. • Shakespeare also wrote 154 Sonnets.

  5. Biography • Shakespeare died on April 23, 1616 at the age of 52. (Remember life expectancies were way lower back then) • The epitaph on Shakespeare’s tomb says the following: • Good friend for Jesus sake forbearTo dig the dust enclosed here!Blest be the man that spares these stones,And curst be he that moves my bones

  6. Life as an Actor • Shakespeare began as an actor for a London acting company called Lord Chamberlain’s Men (later named The King’s Men after King James VI took the throne). • He was also the principal playwright for them. • In 1599 Lord Chamberlain’s Men built The Globe Theater where most of Shakespeare’s plays were performed. He even acted in some of them!

  7. The Globe Theater • The Globe Theater was roofless so there was a lot of open air. (Remember no air conditioning or electricity back then). • There was no artificial lighting so the plays were often held during the afternoon so there would be sunlight. • The Globe was 3 stories high and could hold around 3,000 people.

  8. The Globe Theater • The wealthy got to sit on benches with cushions for comfort to watch the plays. • The commoners were called groundlings. They would pay 1 penny to get to stand in “the pit” which was a courtyard surrounding the stage. • All but the wealthy were uneducated/illiterate.

  9. The Globe Theater • There was no scenery. • The setting of a particular scene was referenced in dialogue. • The costumes were very elaborate. • There were plenty of props. • The plays were fast-paced and colorful; lasting about 2 hours.

  10. The Globe Theater • Only men and boys could act in the plays. • Young boys whose voices had not changed played the roles of women. • It would have been considered indecent for a woman to appear onstage.

  11. The Globe Theater • On June 29, 1613 The Globe Theater caught fire during a performance of Henry the Eighth. • A theatrical cannon set off during the performance misfired and sparked the fire. • No one was hurt during the fire and the theater was rebuilt a year later.

  12. The Globe Theater

  13. Phrases we owe to Shakespeare • “Heart of gold” • “Fight fire with fire” • “Good riddance” • “What’s done is done” • “Love is blind” • “Wild goose chase” • “Break the ice” • “Laughing stock” • “Come what may” • “A sorry sight” • “Vanish into thin air”

  14. Shakespeare’s Sonnets • A sonnet is a one-stanza poem of fourteen lines, written in iambic pentameter. • The Shakespearean Sonnet has the rhyme scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GG, forming three quatrains (four lines in a group) and a closing couplet (two rhymed lines). • Example: The Prologue to Romeo and Juliet is a sonnet.

  15. Shakespeare’s Sonnets • Two households, both alike in dignity,In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. • From forth the fatal loins of these two foesA pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;Whose misadventured piteous overthrowsDo with their death bury their parents' strife. • The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love,And the continuance of their parents' rage,Which, but their children's end, nought could remove,Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage; • The which if you with patient ears attend,What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend. Quatrain Quatrain Quatrain Couplet

  16. Shakespeare’s Sonnets • Iambic Pentameter means a line of ten syllables, which alternates unstressed and stressed syllables. • An iambic foot is an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. • Pentameter means there are five feet in a line.

  17. Your Turn! • Move your desks into groups and begin writing your own sonnet (or at least a quatrain). Just make sure you follow the correct rhyme scheme and it’s in iambic pentameter. • If you can correctly write one quatrain (or more!) each group member will receive 3 bravos.

More Related